An Assassin's Path
by Ravenfire385
Summary: Harry disappears from the wizarding world, only to return sixteen years later. He has an attitude that draws first and asks questions later. How will people react?
1. Chapter 1

_Crack_.

Robed people surround a seventeen year old boy, wands drawn. There's a split second of silence, then the teen opens fire. Seven fall to the ground, clutching various wounds in agony. The boy is not aiming to kill, only incapacitate. This escapes many notices, to the teen's amusement.

"Cease fire!" the people all drop their wands, raising their hands into the air. The boy pauses, then takes aim at a man's head, firing one shot. The group watches in astonishment and horror as a Death Eater keels over, missing the back of his skull. Greyish-pink brain matter is spattered all over his fellows.

The sound of retching is heard, followed by silence once again. There are multiple cracks as the Death Eaters take their escape. The teen manages to bring down an additional four while the others are heaving. An old man steps toward the teen, barely flinching as the boy's weapon is aimed straight at his forehead. The teen could now fire point-blank into the man's head, if he so wished.

This distraction appears to work, for another man, this one with a large hooked nose sneaks behind the teen, firing three Stunning spells into the boy's back. He collapses, the gun clattering to the ground. The old man catches him, brushing back the spiky black hair, exposing a lightning bolt scar that melts into another trailing down the side of his face.

"We've finally got you…Harry Potter." Dumbledore scoops up the gun and apparates away, followed by Snape and the rest of the Order, many of whom are bleeding heavily.

~*~*~*~*~

Dumbledore deposited the motionless teen in the Hospital Wing, setting the gun on the bedside table. Moments later, a plump white-robed witch came bustling out of her office, wand in hand.

"Madam Pomfrey…" Dumbledore started, only to be hushed and shooed out of the Wing.

"Out, out with you!" Madam Pomfrey said sternly. "You put him in this state, I won't have you around while I fix him!" she turned to the raven-haired gunman, eyeing his scars and bleeding wounds with a mix of shock, disgust, and muted horror. "So young to have such injuries…"

Her patient let out a soft groan, before jerking awake. Emerald eyes sprang open, instantly full of distrust, fear, and mild panic. The assassin bolted upright, hand instantly snaking out and curling around the butt of his gun. Before he could do anything more, the teen was hit with two bright red spells, sending him back into a pit of coiling darkness.

"Stop harming my patient!!" the nurse shrieked as the man with a hooked nose and greasy hair, and Dumbledore lowered their wands. "Unless I am to insert a tube down his throat to make him swallow these potions, he needs to be conscious!"

"Then, by all means, Poppy, you might have to insert the tube. He is too dangerous to be awake and so close to a weapon. We do not know what he is capable of, yet. His mind, his hands and feet, his voice, anything could be a weapon. Harry Potter has been gone fifteen years, and comes back with a manner that kills first and asks questions later." Dumbledore's bright blue eyes lacked anything resembling a twinkle. They were dull and flat, resembling a more steely blue than anything else. Snape's upper lip lifted in a silent, unnoticed rumble.

Poppy glared at him. She leaned over Harry, lifting his head and tipping a tiny bit of fluid into his mouth. The teen coughed the liquid back out, spraying it against the bedclothes. Poppy tried again, this time holding his mouth shut. Almost magically, it trickled out his nose…the group stared, one chuckling in amusement, hiding it as a cough. Poppy growled in mock irritation, before giving her wand a commanding flick. Dumbledore only heard the real frustration lacing her tone.

A thin, long tube appeared out of nowhere. Prying Harry's jaw open, she began snaking the tube down his throat. Harry coughed, arching his back against the foreign object moving down his oesophagus. Snape moved forward, wand drawn. He paralyzed Harry almost caringly. A panicked keening drifted from the teen's lips, a desperate whimper. The thin tube slid even further down his throat, coming to rest in his stomach. The nurse began to force-feed Harry potion after potion, healing wounds and replenishing blood.

When Poppy began pulling the tube out of Harry's throat, Severus quickly re-animated the teen. Dumbledore nodded at the proceedings, his eyes regaining their sparkly appearance as he strode out of the Hospital Wing. Snape and Poppy sneered after the man, Severus slamming the doors with a sharp jab of his wand. Reaching down, Poppy tapped Harry twice on the cheek, firmly. His hazy green eyes opened slowly.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I do not own anything you recognize. I also apologize for the most likely unsatisfying chapters. I'm not good at writing long chapters, and since I've started putting stuff on the site, I feel pressured to update...yeah. *rubs the back of her head sheepishly...*

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_Reaching down, Poppy tapped Harry twice on the cheek, firmly. His hazy green eyes opened slowly._

~*~*~*~

Harry's eyes cracked open a sliver, his breathing and posture exactly the same as it had been while he was asleep. Realizing he was no longer in any danger, he sat up slowly, massaging his throat with one calloused hand.

"I apologize about the stunner, Mr. Potter." Harry scowled at Severus, venomous green eyes flashing.

"How many times do I have to tell you? My name is not Mr. Potter, nor is it Harry. I was raised as Itazuki, and Itazuki I shall remain, no matter who my parents were!" Severus nodded stiffly.

"My apologies, Itazuki. It will not happen again." He handed the teenaged assassin a glass of water, murmuring, "The potion residue is most likely sickening, at this point. The tube would have brought all the wonderful flavours right back up as Madam Pomfrey removed it." Itazuki scanned the water with a wandless charm used to detect poisons, both obscure and obvious. Satisfied, he gulped the cool liquid.

"Where do you go from here? You're inside the building. The walls have ears everywhere you go…they will not let you waltz into a dorm or private suite and kill a resident." Poppy sighed, looking at the boy inquiringly. "The Headmaster will know if you so much as sneeze in front of a portrait. He's very paranoid right now- he cannot afford to lose you again. It will ruin all of his hard-concocted schemes."

"But if I stay, he will integrate me into the school, something I cannot afford at this point. I have other missions that _must_ be carried out in a timely fashion. I was ordered to get into Hogwarts, assassinate the target, and get out. Unless I receive new orders telling me that this has suddenly become a reconnaissance mission, and that the target is to be taken out at a different point in time." He coughed, then grimaced. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, Itazuki stood shakily, cursing himself for his weakness.

"Itazuki, where are you going? There's no way you'll get out of here without being noticed! You'll get captured." Poppy stepped forward.

"I need to get out. They know who I am, what I've been doing. _I am not safe here_. Do. You. Understand. Me." He grabbed his handgun off the side table and clicked off the safety, aiming at Severus. His eyes were crackling with bright, crazed fire. When he spoke again, his voice was a tinge hysterical. "They cannot find me again. They will not. I will kill as many people as it takes- they are not getting their hands on me again." Severus stepped in front of the doors. "I am telling you, Snape. Get out of my way." When the spy didn't move, Itazuki fired.

The bullet bounced off a filmy blue shield. Aiming at the weak point of the shield, the assassin fired thrice more. One shattered the shield, while the second sank into Snape's shoulder. Three times hit his shoulder again, right at the joint. The man gripped the wound, falling to the side as he yowled in pain. Poppy watched the assassin, eyes troubled. She made her decision as Snape fell to the ground, out cold.

"Itazuki. Two left, three right. Four straight, one right, two left. Keep going down. Never go up or stop." He nodded his thanks.

"For appearances, it has to look like you fought…" he trailed off. Poppy cast strong numbing charms on herself just before Itazuki fired two bullets into her ankle and left wrist. "So you couldn't run for help or use your wand." He explained simply, flicking her a casual two-fingered salute then running. She watched him run for a moment, then felt herself drift off from shock. Her body knew something was wrong, even if her mind couldn't feel it.

Poppy played the scene of the salutation in her head over and over. Her lips quirked into a slight smile. She passed out seconds later.


End file.
